Few series have made viewers fall in love and feel irritated at the same time quite like ‘Emily in Paris’. When the show premiered on Netflix in February 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, it immediately became a global point of contention. Some saw it as a love letter to the City of Light, wrapped in designer outfits and perfect croissants. Others dismissed it as a flood of clichés, hashtags and a reflection of a generation that consumes romance and fashion at the pace of an Instagram feed.
Still, it is fair to say that both camps found in it a welcome form of escapism at a time when Paris was a destination many could only dream about from their living room sofas. Four seasons later, and with the arrival of season five, viewers are still here, ready to return to a city where everything always looks a little too beautiful and a little too perfect, to argue once again about Emily’s exaggerated style, how annoying she is on a scale of one to 10, and her not always successful romantic choices.
Interview
(Courtesy of Netflix)
Emily Cooper, played by Lily Collins, 36, famous for her eyebrows and also the daughter of Phil Collins, is a young marketing executive from Chicago who is very impressed with herself, both literally and metaphorically. She arrives in Paris as part of a corporate merger, tasked with teaching the French the American ‘way’. Waiting for her are Sylvie, the cool and intimidating boss played by the striking Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, clients who are far less enthusiastic about speaking English, and a handsome chef, Lucas Bravo, who lives downstairs.
Between meetings, fashion and Parisian streets, Emily quickly became one of television’s most talked-about characters. For some, she was the ultimate escapist fantasy. For others, she was a satire of millennials with more filters than real moments.
In the fifth season, which premiered last weekend, Emily trades, at least partially, the banks of the Seine for the cobblestones of Rome, bonjour for ciao, and Parisian chill for warm Italian sunshine.
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It is impossible to remain indifferent to her, from “Emily in Paris,” season five
(Photo: Caroline DUubois/NETFLIX)
In an exclusive interview with ynet, series creator, writer and producer Darren Star, who is Jewish and known for landmark shows including ‘Melrose Place’, ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ and ‘Sex and the City’, explains the thinking behind the move.
“Paris gave us so much,” Star says, “but Rome is a completely different city, with a different culture and a different energy. I loved the idea of that cultural meeting, the small rivalry between the French and the Italians, and seeing how our French characters react when they really feel that difference. I also wanted to take Emily somewhere else in Europe, to experience another city and the pleasure of arriving in Rome, and to see how it changes her, and Sylvie as well,” he adds.
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A meeting of cultures, from “Emily in Paris,” season five
(Photo: Giulia ParmigianI/NETFLIX)
Leroy-Beaulieu, 62, arguably the character with the strongest sex appeal and most impeccable style on the show, agrees. She says the move to Rome reveals new layers in Sylvie, who was initially perceived as an archetypal tough, no-nonsense boss.
“This season we discover what Sylvie is protecting,” she says. “She is probably protecting a lot of insecurity, doubts and her personal pursuit of happiness. All of that opens up in Rome, because Rome is a city where things are calmer, people are more relaxed and more open-hearted. That makes it the ideal place for Sylvie to loosen up. It was really nice to play her that way. When she returns to Paris, she becomes tense and composed again.”
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A tough, no-nonsense boss? from “Emily in Paris,” season five
(photo: Courtesy of Netflix)
Collins also describes the shift her character undergoes. For Emily, this is her second major relocation, following the original move from the land of unlimited possibilities to the capital of baguettes.
“Moving from America to Paris was a real shock for Emily,” Collins explains. “It was the first time she was exposed to a completely different culture, both at work and in love. This time, moving from Paris to Rome, there are still many differences, but she is more skilled, more self-aware, and she knows better how to handle new situations, a new place and new people. So yes, she needs to adjust, but it is a different kind of adjustment.”
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“She comes to Rome because of love.” From “Emily in Paris,” season five
(Photo: Giulia ParmigianI/NETFLIX)
“When she arrived in Paris, she didn’t get a warm welcome at the office because of how foreign the situation was for everyone,” Collins continues. “But she comes to Rome because of love, so it immediately feels warmer. She starts Rome with a sense of acceptance, which is a welcome change. And since we know she eventually returns to Paris, it was nice to feel that she is coming back home to a place she loves.”
Collins and Ashley Park, 34, who plays Mindy Chen, Emily’s best friend, also share what they love most about the characters they have portrayed for so many seasons.
Collins says she admires Emily’s drive to solve problems and the fact that she does not dwell on her flaws. She is aware of them and moves on. “She tries to help others, she is vulnerable and above all, she is very funny,” Collins says. “I think the show is funnier and wittier this season, and I really enjoy playing that humor. Unlike the first season, when people laughed at Emily, I feel that now they are laughing with her and leaning into that humor, which really speaks to me.”
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“A nonjudgmental friend.” From “Emily in Paris,” season five
(Photo: Caroline Dubois/NETFLIX)
Park nods in agreement. “I have always loved that Mindy is not judgmental, whether as a friend or in any situation,” she says. “She will absolutely share her opinion and what she thinks. She is very honest and direct, sometimes too much, but she is also very open and warm, and she operates with a lot of humor. Sometimes that humor is a defense mechanism, but she is never someone who tries to hurt others intentionally, and I really love that about her.”
The saying that art imitates life has proven true in the friendship between Park and Collins, which long ago crossed the boundaries of the set and became one of the show’s most talked-about behind-the-scenes stories. The two say their bond was formed during the first season, when they were both far from home while filming in France, and the shared sense of being outsiders in a new city brought them together, just like Emily and Mindy.
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Friendship beyond the screen. From “Emily in Paris,” season five
(Photo: Giulia ParmigianI/NETFLIX)
“If you had told me in the first season how important this woman here,” Park says, placing her hand on Collins, “would become to me, I would not have believed you. And that does not even begin to describe what she means to me. It is funny to think about us on the first day of shooting, in the first season, filming three different scenes on that same bench. To realize, five seasons later, that just like Emily and Mindy found each other on that bench, Lily and I found each other there too. It is so special. They did not know how significant they would become in each other’s lives, and I feel that is exactly our real-life experience.”
Although at first glance ‘Emily in Paris’ appears to be a product aimed at millennials, like its main characters, a large part of its enthusiastic audience actually comes from Generation Z. The show’s romanticized portrayal of drifting between glamorous cities is presented through an addictive aesthetic of filters and stories.
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Main character syndrome. From “Emily in Paris,” season five
(Photo: Courtesy of Netflix)
Some critics argue that Gen Z watches the show because it taps directly into the ‘main character syndrome’, an internet culture term describing people who see themselves as the heroes of a movie or series, with the world and everyone around them serving mainly as background to their personal plot. It fits neatly with the age of social media, where life is designed like a feed, every scene is a ‘moment’, every outing a ‘story’, and every crisis a ‘plot twist’.
“I actually think Emily moves a bit beyond ‘main character syndrome’ this season,” Star responds. “Look, Emily’s focus is always Emily,” he laughs, “but I really think that this season there is more space for the other characters as well. And honestly, I believe that all of us are guilty of some degree of ‘main character syndrome’. It is not something that belongs only to Generation Z.”
Leroy-Beaulieu quickly agrees. “It is just human,” she laughs. “It is called narcissism.”